Rise From The Ashes
by Lady Knight Lauren
Summary: When Harry Potter asked Remus Lupin about his parents, he never expected to get the entire story, from their seventh year at Hogwarts with their friends to their final days. JamesLily, AliceFrank, RemusOC, SiriusOC, PeterOC.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

A 17-year old boy with shaggy black hair and astonishing green eyes walked slowly up the stairs of an old house on Grimmauld Place, his feet dragging across each step, millions of things running through his mind, no idea what to begin with or where everything would end. He staggered into a familiar room, setting his bags down and stretching across the bed. There was no point trying to go to sleep, he knew, since too many things were keeping him awake at night. He heard a faint knock at the door, but he didn't get up to answer.

"Harry?" a voice asked. The door creaked open and the boy named Harry rolled his head over to see who it was. "Are you alright?" Remus Lupin inquired. "You seemed quieter than usual at dinner, and I thought I'd check."

"I'm fine," Harry looked back up at the ceiling. "I have a few questions on my mind, but I'm fine."

Remus sighed and moved to sit on the edge of Harry's bed. "You would. These past few months have put a lot of strain on you, and-"

"That's not what I meant," Harry interrupted. "I can deal with the strain. I had questions about how everyone ended up like this, how Sirius is gone and my parents and Dumbledore are dead while that stupid rat is still alive, how all of them even ended up in the Order in the first place." He paused. "Maybe I'm not seeing the big picture, but it seems odd that a bunch of kids out of school could join a group like this. Weren't you happy just being young?"

Remus thought for a while, letting the silence eat away the time. "We were happy, but we had just as much terror to worry about as you do. A trip out into Hogsmeade could mean getting attacked by Death Eaters, and a vacation somewhere could end up being your last. Voldemort was just as powerful then as he is now, Harry."

"You don't have the same worries I do. You don't have to worry about Voldemort sending someone to kill you in the middle of the night or kidnapping and torturing your best friends just to get at you," Harry snapped back.

Remus shook his head. "Voldemort used terror to get what he wanted. We all knew people who were killed simply because he was bored. It was a terrible time."

"Well how did you handle it?" Harry looked over at Remus. "If it was so terrible, how did everyone make it through the day?"

"You had to. There was no other choice. If you let the fear of Voldemort run your life, then he won without even trying. We enjoyed being together, and savored the good moments we had, however fleeting they may have been," Remus tried to explain. "During our seventh year, we barely even acknowledged Voldemort until one of our teachers was killed by him. Even after that, the only times we ever stopped to think about him was when we had a lot of time to think about life. We were too busy being teenagers, just having fun and not caring about anything else. It was more fun watching James get shot down by Lily then thinking about who might die next."

"Good old persistent Dad," Harry grinned. "I barely know anything about your life, other than that you guys were friends and then somehow Dad got my mom to fall for him and here I am."

Remus smiled too. "Those were the best times we ever had. The Marauders, Lily, Bryanna, and," he paused for a second, "and Ashleigh. It was the best it could ever be."

Harry shot him a questioning glance. "I've never heard of Bryanna or Ashleigh. Were they my mom's friends?"

Remus laughed at that. "Definitely not. Well, Ashleigh and Lily got along alright, but Lily hated Bryanna completely. I'd say the feeling was mutual on that. Lily's friends hated Bry and Ash."

"Why?" Harry asked. "Were they in Slytherin or something?"

"Ashleigh was a Ravenclaw, and Bryanna was a Gryffindor. Neither of them really fit in with the houses though, which is probably why they were best friends."

"So Ashleigh was stupid, and Bry was a coward or something?"

Remus laughed again. "Ashleigh wasn't stupid, she just spent more of her time gossiping than studying. Bry was… she had a lot of courage, but she just didn't get along with the other Gryffindor girls because she had an attitude people didn't tend to like."

"So if Ashleigh and Bryanna weren't Mom's friends, then who was?" Harry asked.

"Well, there was Dorcas Meadowes, who everyone just called Dory. She was a Beater on the Quidditch team, and she was really good too. Got some really great offers from some professional teams. Then there was Neville's mother, Alice Miller. She was always nice, basically the mother figure out of all of us. Marlene McKinnon, who was always drawing something. She was beautiful, but quiet. And last, but definitely not least, there was Emmeline Vance, who you knew," he paused, remembering that Emma had just been killed the past year. "Emma used to be completely wild and crazy. The only thing that could really describe her is the word 'rebel'. I remember that seventh year she dyed her hair pink just because."

Harry smiled. "And you and Sirius and Peter were my dad's friends. But I still don't get where the other two girls come in."

"Well, that's a very long story," Remus said. "If you really want to know the whole story, then we'll have to start at the beginning of our seventh year, on the first Hogsmeade trip…"


	2. Daily To The Filling Station

**Daily to the Filling Station**

"I never saw your father so mad at a guy in his entire life," Remus started. "It was a 6th year Ravenclaw named Brian Craig, who had a crush on your mother. Lily happened to have one in return, which is where the trouble began…"

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"Would it be wrong to let Prongs stick his antlers in Brian's arse?" James asked.

"Do you really want your antlers up his arse?" Sirius grinned.

"Maybe not, but it would be funny," James said, looking up at the Chocolate Frogs in Honeyduke's Sweetshop. He glanced over to the other side of the store where Lily and Brian were, flirting shamelessly with each other.

"Stop looking over there," Peter said, rolling his eyes.

"Why don't you watch Bry sticking her tongue down Fabian's throat?" Sirius said loudly, watching the two making out in the middle of the store. "It's much more entertaining."

Bryanna's tongue quickly departed from Fabian's mouth. "I heard that Sirius."

"Good," Sirius shrugged. "You know everyone loves watching you turn our Keeper on. Makes him play better, I think."

Bryanna just smirked at him and dragged Fabian out of the store so they could find a place where they wouldn't be disturbed.

"Why is Lily with my two most favorite people in the world?" James groaned, setting his head on a shelf.

Sirius's eyes flicked over. "Oh, Ashleigh's over there too. You going to send Prongs after her as well?"

"Nah, she leaves a bad taste in my mouth," James shuddered, thinking about his ex-girlfriend.

"Unlike my girlfriend, who is pretty much amazing," Sirius smiled. "Dory is fine and she definitely doesn't leave a bad taste in my mouth."

"Well, as interesting as this talk is, I think I'm going to head on over to the bookstore," Remus shook his head at his friends and walked out, heading out to his favorite place.

James barely acknowledged his friend's departure because at that moment Brian leaned over to kiss Lily on the cheek. "She never let me get that close," he said loudly.

Lily whispered something to Brian, who then walked outside the shop. Lily made her way over to James and stood directly in front of him, her arms crossed over her chest. "I swear, if you do one thing that ruins today, I will make your life miserable James Potter. I actually like Brian, and if you hurt him at all you will have to deal with me."

"Maybe I want to deal with you, Miss Evans, but that prick has to go first," James remarked with a slight smile on his face.

"I swear, Potter, I mean what I said. Don't tempt me," Lily stormed outside.

"So you can tempt me but I can't return the favor?" James yelled after her, but she didn't turn back.

"You know, she never said anything about me not hurting him," Sirius said under his breath, just loud enough for James and Peter to hear.

"I'm going to get Remus, in case anyone gets hurt. Don't start the show without me," Peter grinned as he exited the store. James and Sirius quickly left as well, but instead of heading to the bookstore, they headed down an alley. Sirius turned into Padfoot, barking happily, his tail in the air. He caught Brian's scent and was about to run after him, but James stopped him.

"Wait," James said, walking to the front of the alley. "Alright, Remus and Peter are headed this way. Go get 'em Padfoot!"

The giant black dog leapt down the road, stopping in front of Lily and Brian, his tongue hanging out and his tail wagging madly, looking for some attention. Brian looked down at the dog. "Go away you mangy mutt."

"It's alright Brian," Lily smiled, leaning down to pet the dog. "He's friendly, see?" The dog rolled over in front of her, and Lily rubbed his stomach. "He's so cute too." The dog seemed to enjoy the attention.

Brian shrugged. The dog seemed nice enough, so he leaned down to pet it too, but the dog growled and sprung to its feet. "Hey mutt, I'm just trying to pet you," Brian yelled. The dog just growled louder and added some snarls to really get Brian scared.

Brian started backing away. "Lily, I don't think it likes me much." The dog snapped his jaws and Brian started running down the street. After a few seconds, the dog jumped after him, biting at his heels to make him fall. When he hit the ground, the dog pressed its giant paws on his shoulders and growled madly into his face, letting some drool fall. Brian flailed around, trying to get the dog off, but it was too big.

"Stupefy!" Lily shouted, and the dog froze, falling over. "Brian, are you alright?" she ran over to him. Ashleigh ran through the crowd, bumping into James along the way. "What happened?" she asked. "I was in the bookstore, and all of a sudden I heard some students yelling about a dog attacking someone."

"That stray dog just came up to us," Lily told her, helping Brian to his feet. "It seemed friendly, but when Brian got close it just attacked him."

"He's bleeding," Ashleigh said. "Maybe you should take him to the Hospital Wing. I'll get your stuff, don't worry about it."

"Thanks," Lily said as Brian leaned up against her. They walked through the crowd, back up to the castle.

As the crowd cleared, the rest of the Marauders looked over at Sirius in his dog form. "We'd better wait a minute before taking him back," Peter said. Remus and James nodded in agreement, and once the crowd disappeared, they picked up the dog and carried it to the alleyway.

"Enervate," Remus muttered. As soon as the dog was unfrozen, it turned back into Sirius Black.

"Damn that hurt," Sirius said, holding his arm. "That girl can stun someone. Be careful Prongs, if she ever gets angry enough she might do that to you."

James looked at his watch. "We need to get to Quidditch tryouts. As the Captain, it'd look pretty bad if I was late."

"Like it matters anyway," Sirius said as they walked out of the alley. "You already know who's on the team."

"Yeah, but it's funny to watch the first years fly around, thinking they actually have a shot," James grinned.

"I thought you were missing a Seeker though," Peter asked. "Who's taking Mitchell's spot?"

"Fabian's little brother, Gideon," James replied. "I saw him fly, he's good. Fabian says he's a great Seeker, so he has the spot. We don't have to worry about anything else, since Dory and Kassidy are Beaters, Fabian is Keeper, and me, Sirius, and Bryanna are Chasers. None of us are replaceable."

"Notice how he mentions himself first as Chaser," Sirius said, ruffling his hair.

"That's because I'm the best," James replied haughtily.

"Yeah right. Best as second place, maybe," Sirius sneered.

"If you were better, you would be Captain," James grinned, knowing he'd won this match.

Sirius pouted for a minute. "Me and Bry are still irreplaceable."

"And I'm still Captain," James walked in front of his best friend.

"And Lily still rubbed my stomach, not yours," Sirius shot back.

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that. Were you just trying to torture me or something?" James asked.

"What, jealous of a dog now James? That's pretty low, even for you," Remus commented.

"What ever happened to the quiet Remus who kept out of mine and Sirius's arguments? I like that guy better," James turned on his other friend.

"It's more fun to be mean to you," Remus replied. "But I'm done now. I really don't feel like watching you make fun of the first years who show up at tryouts, so I'm going to the library to actually get some work done." He swung his bag over his shoulder and departed from his friends.

"When did Remus get a purple bag?" Peter commented. "That seems rather odd."

Sirius shrugged. "Maybe he realized he couldn't get any from the girls, so he's going queer."

"Speaking of girls, I'm going to watch Kassidy tryout today. She asked me to come and cheer her on," Peter smiled. Kassidy was a fifth year, but somehow Peter found himself harboring a crush on the Gryffindor Beater.

"Cheer her on my arse," Sirius remarked. "You're going to ask her out, aren't you?"

Peter blushed. "Maybe. She's really nice, you know."

"She's a fifth year!" Sirius yelled. "A Marauder should not be dating a fifth year when we can get much better."

"Maybe we should stop talking about Peter's love life and start focusing on Quidditch," James cut in. "You know I'm Captain, right?"

Sirius punched his friend in the shoulder. "You know I might knock you off your broom the next time you decide to rub that in my face, right?"


	3. Calm Before The Storm

**Calm Before The Storm**

"So Remus, are you ready for Moony's visit tonight?" James nudged his friend during lunch in the Great Hall.

Remus looked up in shock. "Wait, that's tonight? No, I thought Moony came on the 17th."

"Moony, it is the 17th," Sirius raised his eyebrows. Remus never forgot when he was going to turn. He thought about it everyday.

"I thought it was the 16th," Remus put his head in his hands. "No, today cannot be the 17th. It just can't."

"Why not? Does it really make a difference if you turn today or tomorrow?" Peter asked.

"Yes," Remus said under his breath. "Yes it does." Before his friends could question him, he got up from the table and headed off to his Arithmancy class. None of the other Marauders were in there with him, so they couldn't ask him what was going on until later.

"Well, that was weird," Sirius said, taking another bite of potatoes.

"Very," James agreed, watching Mooney leave the Great Hall. "He never forgets when he's going to turn. Ever."

"Well maybe he's been stressed about homework. Merlin knows it's being piled on us enough," Peter grumbled. "It's not like he hasn't been studying every spare minute."

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Remus had already made it to the Shrieking Shack and was preparing to turn into a werewolf when the other Marauders piled under James's invisibility cloak to join him. They noticed that they wouldn't be able to leave anytime soon, since Bryanna and Fabian were having a very long goodnight kiss in front of the common room door.

"Damn, how long does it take to say goodnight?" Peter whispered.

"For Bry? Years," Sirius said.

Suddenly Fabian broke away. "Come on," the Marauders heard him say to Bry. "All my friends are gone, we can go up to my room and have a little fun like you promised."

"Merlin, I don't want to hear this," Sirius muttered. "Bry getting seduced is definitely on the top of my 'never want to watch in this lifetime' list."

"Oh come on Sirius," James grinned. "We all know you want to see Bry in her underwear again. You did say that she wasn't too bad after you walked in on her during 4th year."

"Yeah, but I have a girlfriend, remember?" Sirius replied. "And I would much rather see her in her underwear than watch Bry and Fabian get it on."

Bryanna spoke up. "Not tonight Fabian."

Fabian pouted. "Come on, Bry," but she still shook her head. He leaned toward her and kissed her then whispered something in her ear. Bryanna instantly turned angry, pushing him away.

"Ooo, he's in trouble now," Sirius whispered gleefully. "Look's like I don't have to watch them doing anything after all!"

"No means no Fabian!" Bry yelled. "If you can't accept that, then you can't be with me!" She turned on her heel and stormed out of the common room. Fabian just stood there for a moment before walking up to his dorm.

"Finally," James sighed. "I thought we might be here all night."

"Well, at least that was entertaining," Peter said. Sirius nodded in agreement.

The trio finally headed out into the hall and down the stairs. They were one step closer to getting to see Moony. When they arrived, Remus hadn't transformed yet. He was weak and didn't look like he was up to saying much, but they still had to ask.

"So what's wrong with today being the 17th?" James asked him. Remus just looked up and shot him a malicious glance and let out a low growl. "You don't want to talk about it right now," James answered for him. "Got it."

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Bryanna was doing quite well for having just broken up with her boyfriend. She was curled up in another boy's lap, kissing him, when her best friend Ashleigh happened to walk down the corridor Bry and the boy were in.

"Bryanna, there had better be a good reason you are making out with someone other than Fabian," Ashleigh started, when she noticed who Bry was kissing. "Especially one who's dating my other friend. Brian you have two seconds to get your sorry butt out of here."

Brian stood up quickly, knocking Bry to the ground. He ran out of the corridor as fast as he could.

"How could you do this Bry?" Ashleigh yelled. "I know you don't like Lily that much, but kissing Brian to get back at her? That's just downright wrong. Plus you have a boyfriend of your own, and I don't think you would want Fabian to know you're cheating on him."

"What the hell are you talking about Ash?" Bry interrupted. "Fabian and I had a fight and I broke up with him, so I'm not cheating. Brian was there and I told him about that, and we started making out. What the hell does Lily have to do with that?"

"You cannot tell me you didn't know that Lily was dating Brian," Ashleigh snapped.

"Actually, I can, since I didn't know that. Brian said nothing about having a girlfriend. How could you think I'd kiss someone who wasn't single?" Bry yelled back at Ashleigh.

"Well, it is you Bry. You're kind of a kissing whore," Ashleigh said.

"You just haven't had enough experience to truly appreciate the art of kissing," Bry crossed her arms over her chest. Yes, this was Ashleigh and her fighting, but it was never too long after the yelling ended that they'd hug and forgive each other.

Ashleigh just rolled her eyes. "What am I supposed to do now though Bry? I set Lily up with Brian, and now he goes and cheats on her with my best friend. That doesn't look too great."

"Not my problem," Bry answered smartly.

Ashleigh narrowed her eyes. "Oh it will be. You're coming with me to tell Lily now."

"Why do you need my help to tell someone who hates me that I made out with her boyfriend?" Bry asked.

"Because I'm not a Gryffindor, so I don't know the password."

Bryanna sighed. She knew that Ashleigh would end up following her if she refused to help now, so she'd end up sneaking in anyway. Might as well help her now. "Fine. Follow me."


	4. Caught In A Waltz

**Caught in a Waltz**

"So, as Head Boy, I'm proposing a Halloween Dance for all the 7th years. Before you start questioning my idea, I have some reasons for it," James Potter smiled at Dumbledore. "All the teachers are piling up on the homework, and all the students are getting so stressed out. We need some fun in our lives. It's our last year to be students, to be young and carefree, before we get shoved out into the real world. A dance would help bring everyone's spirits up, and what better way to let lose than at a dance? Then-"

"You may have your dance, Mr. Potter," the Headmaster stood up. "I believe that would be an excellent idea actually. Although perhaps it could be a school-wide dance instead of just the seventh years."

"Well why ruin the fun? The seventh years are the ones stressing out, not the first years. We never got a dance when we were their age, and they're just too immature to handle it. Tiny boys with hormones running around a dance with all the sophisticated seventh year girls? It's just crazy."

"Point taken," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled at James. "The dance will be for just the seventh years, and their dates of course. I'm afraid that if you intend to hold it on Halloween, you cannot have it in the Great Hall though. The other students will be feasting."

"I'm sure we can find somewhere to have it," James smiled. "That won't be a problem."

"Very well. If you believe you can get everything together by tomorrow night, you may hold your dance."

"Thank you very much Professor."

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"So, did he say yes?" Sirius asked as James sat down for lunch.

"If we can get everything together, the dance is on," James gave his friend a thumbs-up. "Costumes only, of course. After all, it is Halloween."

"Are you going to pull your prank on the Slytherins then?" Remus asked.

"But of course," James grinned. "We can't let them ruin our party. When they get near the entrance, they'll suddenly have to go to the bathroom and scurry on downstairs."

"Perfect," Sirius added, looking over at Dory. "Then it'll just be us and the people we want there."

"So I could invite Kassidy, even though she's a fifth year?" Peter asked.

"Of course," Sirius answered. "We wouldn't let our friend go without his girlfriend."

"I could deal without Ashleigh being there though, but I suppose if Bry's coming we have to invite her. And I'm pretty sure Bry would be pissed if she didn't get an invitation," James said. "Frankly, I'm afraid of what she'd do to us if she found out there was a dance and she wasn't invited." He paused for a second, a thought dawning on him. "Oh damn, invitations! We completely forgot, and we don't have time to make them and give them out."

Sirius stood up. "Oy! Shut up!" The Great Hall went silent. "Thanks. All seventh years, tomorrow night there will be a dance at 7 to midnight on the seventh floor. Only seventh years will be allowed in, unless you are going as a seventh year's date. We will have charms up to catch anyone who was not invited, so don't even bother trying to sneak in. Everyone needs to wear a costume to get in. That's it. Thanks again." He sat down. "There you go James. No need to worry about invitations."

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"Well it looks like Brian's not going to the dance then," Lily looked smug. "After all, he's not dating a seventh year anymore. As a matter of fact, I heard he's single now."

"After James pulled that prank on him for cheating on you, the whole school's turned against him. After all, having 'CHEATER' in huge letters all over your body pretty much ruins your chances of getting a date anytime soon," Emma grinned, looking over at the Ravenclaw, who still hadn't managed to get James's prank to disappear.

"You should dance with him, Lily," Alice looked up at her friend. "You owe him that after he got Brian back for you."

"We'll see," Lily said. "But right now I'm more worried about what I'm going to wear than who I'm going to dance with."

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"So who are you going to go with then?" Bryanna asked Ashleigh.

"My best friend, of course! What better date could I get than that?" Ashleigh grinned at her.

"Good because I didn't have a date either."

"For the first time in your life?"

"Mmm… yeah."


	5. I Hope We Dance Forever

**I Hope We'll Dance Forever**

James was just putting the finishing touches on the decorations when Sirius, Remus, Peter, and Peter's new girlfriend Kassidy walked in. "Oh wow, it's beautiful!" Kassidy crooned. "It's amazing James."

"Thanks," James smiled. He looked at his friends, who were dressed up for the dance. "Weren't you guys supposed to come in costume?"

"Well, you know me," Remus said. He was proud of his wonderful werewolf costume. "I just like to wear stuff like this every so often. For grins and giggles."

Peter and Kassidy had obviously planned their costumes together, since Peter was going as Sir Lancelot and Kassidy was Queen Guinevere. They matched perfectly from Peter's sword to Kassidy's crown.

Sirius was dressed as a vampire, complete with white fangs tipped with red blood and a long black cloak that resembled something from medieval times. He and Dory obviously hadn't decided to dress up the same; he noticed that when the party began and Dory walked through the doors, she was dressed as a Holyhead Harpies Quidditch player, which did not go with his costume at all. Not to mention the fact that Sirius was an Appleby Arrows fan.

"What are you supposed to be?" A voice asked James. He turned and saw Lily dressed as a forest fairy, with brown and green mixed into her costume. James particularly liked her skirt; it was short enough to show a lot of her legs but long enough that she didn't look like a skank. James just smiled. "I'm a Muggle," he said proudly, thinking that his costume was very original.

"A Muggle?" Lily asked in disbelief. James nodded happily. "Well, you have your wand sticking out of your pocket. Kind of odd for a Muggle, don't you think?" James blushed and hid his wand under a table. He then followed after her as she walked around the room.

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"You are not dressed up as a vampire," Bryanna said, looking at Sirius. "Tell me you are not a vampire."

Sirius looked at her. She was in a black medieval dress with makeup that was totally vampiric. "Nope, I'm a vampire," he said just to spite her. "And my vampire costume is better than yours."

"Please, I totally outdid you on the makeup department," Bry argued.

"But my clothes are better, and everyone knows the costume is the best part," Sirius smirked.

"Maybe for you, but I don't need pretty clothes to make me look sexy," Bry retorted.

"Hey Sirius," Dory came up with her arms out. "Dance with me." Sirius grinned and took her out to the dance floor.

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James looked over to the center of the room and saw Remus dancing with a girl in a red dress. That was a nice sight, since Remus had been stressing out the last few weeks. He needed to relax and just spend some time with a girl. He glanced over at Lily, who wasn't dancing with anyone. 'Might as well give it a shot,' he thought.

"Lily, would you like to dance?" James asked. He tried to put on his best puppy dog eyes for her, but she didn't seem to care about that.

"Fine, but don't think you're going to get anywhere," Lily agreed. "And I'm only dancing with you because you got back at Brian for me."

"I really don't care the reason you're doing it," James smiled triumphantly. He offered her his arm and took her out to the dance floor just as the band began to play an upbeat tune.

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"I'm going to grab something to drink," Ashleigh said to the guy she was dancing with. "I need to find Bry too and see what she's up to, so I'll just find you in a little while." She was having a wonderful time. She looked pretty, she had a great guy dancing with her, and her best friend was actually single for once, which meant no boy drama from her for a while.

Until she looked over and saw her best friend dancing with a boy dressed up in a leather jacket and blue jeans, with his hair slicked back. Bryanna was dancing with Fabian. Ashleigh waited until the song was over to march up to Bry.

"Can I talk to you?" she said sweetly, knowing Bryanna would realize how angry she really was.

"Fab, I'll catch up to you later alright?" Bry smiled at him and wandered off with Ashleigh. Before Ashleigh could start yelling at her, Bry began to talk. "You look so beautiful, Ash. That color red is completely gorgeous with your hair." She reached out to touch Ashleigh's dark ringlets. "So pretty."

"You think so?" Ashleigh said, completely distracted by the talk of clothes. "I thought it might be too much. You look great too, by the way. The makeup is totally spooky, but I do have to say that your blonde hair doesn't really make a good vampire."

"Yeah, well, I have pale skin, so it works," Bry grinned.

"Not really," Ashleigh said. Then she saw Fabian out of the corner of her eye and remembered why she wanted to talk to Bryanna. "Stop distracting me Bry!" she snapped. "You know why I wanted to talk to you. Why are you dancing with Fabian? You guys were through, remember?"

"But I still liked him," Bry said.

Ashleigh just sighed in frustration. She couldn't really talk to Bry with all this noise going on, but she could try. "I'm not through with this," she said, continuing to argue with Bryanna.

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Sirius held Dory close to him, enjoying the moment. He looked around for his friends. Peter was dancing with Kassidy, James was dancing with Lily, which was a surprise, and Remus was standing alone on the side. He rolled his eyes and saw that Marlene was standing not far from him, also without a partner. "Excuse me for a moment Dory," he smiled. "I have some matchmaking to do."

He strolled over to Marlene and whispered something into her ear. She smiled and nodded and he continued over to Remus. "Hey Remus, an angel wants to dance with you," he said.

"What?" Remus looked up, confused, before he saw Marlene, who was dressed all in white with a halo on her head. "Oh, well, I don't know. I'm not really in a dancing mood."

"Moony, that girl is gorgeous and she wants to dance with you. Look at her for a second. Now think, how many times has a girl like that asked you out?" Sirius said.

"Thanks Padfoot," Remus said dryly. He realized that if he said no, Sirius would keep bugging him. Plus it looked like Sirius had already told Marlene that he would get Remus to dance with her, and he wasn't mean enough to let her down. "Fine, I'll dance with her. But only one dance, alright?"

"Perfect," Sirius smiled and pushed Remus over to Marlene.

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"Ashleigh, you don't understand!" Bry yelled in frustration. "This will be different, I know it. He already said he was sorry for pressuring me and that he wouldn't do it again. He apologized, and I've forgiven him. Just let me make my own decisions."

"You know he just wants to have sex with you Bry," Ashleigh yelled right back. "I don't care if he's sorry, he still wants to sleep with you. He doesn't think you're a virgin."

"No, he's changed," Bry defended him, still yelling. "He cares about me. Why else would he apologize? If he's just looking for sex, he could go to someone else, but he came back to me."

"How can you be so oblivious?" Ashleigh groaned in annoyance. "Everyone sees it but you. They think you're a whore, and he bought into that and is just using you Bry!"

Bryanna stopped yelling. "Everyone thinks I'm a whore then? Well maybe I should just sleep with him and prove it right." She stormed off into the crowd.

Ashleigh didn't know what to do. She just turned around and almost ran into Remus and Marlene dancing. She looked at the two of them and just ran out of the party, shaking with anger and afraid to cry.

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Bryanna spotted Fabian across the room and walked over to him, trying to forget her anger toward Ashleigh. "Hey," she said, wrapping her arms around him.

He turned to her. "You and Ashleigh have a fight?" Bry nodded and Fabian handed her a drink. "This'll help, I promise."

"Thanks," Bry downed the drink and smiled as she began to forget all about the stupid fight as the music filled her ears and she began to concentrate on the party, and Fabian, once more. Fabian wrapped his arms around her and led her back to the dance floor and she lost track of everything else except the guy she was with.

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"I'm so sorry, Marlene," Remus said. "I'm just not in the mood for dancing, I have to go." Without waiting for a reply, he took off out the door and into the hall, leaving Marlene stunned behind him.

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"Well, that was fun," James said to Sirius after the party as they both took out their wands to clean up the mess after the dance.

"Yeah, let's hurry this up, I want to go back with Dory," Sirius grinned, looking over at his girlfriend, who was in a deep conversation with Lily and Marlene on one of the couches. Peter and Kassidy weren't too far from them, all curled up together.

"It's really quiet," James took a look too, wondering who was missing. "Where's Bry?"

"She and Fabian left a long time ago," Sirius said with a smirk. "Apparently they found better things to do than just dance, which is really what I was hoping to do if we could hurry this cleaning thing up."

James just shook his head and laughed. "Fine, but it still feels like someone's missing," he said as he cleared off the last table. That's when they moved over to the couch to talk to the girls.

"What's wrong with Remus?" Marlene asked them right when they came over. "He left in the middle of a dance, saying he just wasn't in the mood."

James spoke up first. "That's odd, he seemed alright today. Maybe the punch was spiked or something and he had too much of it. I'll ask him later."

Marlene nodded. "Thanks. I'm going to head off now, I suppose. Night everyone." She waved as she headed out the door.

"I guess he's not interested in Marlene, which is odd, because she is hot," Sirius said, watching her leave.

"Excuse me?" Dory said as James laughed.

"She's ugly, completely ugly," Sirius said quickly.

"That's what I thought," Dory laughed.

"Awww, good dog. You're whipped so well," James smirked.

"Ashleigh left early too," Lily put in before Sirius could come up with something. "Apparently she and Bryanna had a fight."

"A lot of people left early," Sirius shrugged.

"Well, Remus looked pretty happy when he was dancing with that girl," James said.

"You mean Marlene?" Sirius asked.

"No, the one in red, I didn't see who. He just looked happy then," James shrugged.

"Ashleigh was wearing red," Lily said.

"Well, it can't be her. Remus wouldn't be anywhere near her," Sirius said.

"Why did they both leave early then?" Lily asked.


	6. I Don't Like Your Girlfriend

**Hey, Hey, You, You, I Don't Like Your Girlfriend**

"So let me guess, you and Ashleigh hooked up?" Harry asked Remus.

Remus laughed. "Of course. We'd been going out a few weeks before the dance, since the day after the Hogsmeade trip. No one knew about it since your father and Sirius hated her so much. Everyone started figuring it out after the dance though. We left too many clues, like the bag I had after Hogsmeade. It was Ashleigh's, she had left it beside me in the bookstore and when Peter came in I pretended it was mine so he wouldn't ask anything. And disappearing at the same time during the dance didn't help our alibi either."

"I bet it was interesting when my dad and Sirius found out."

"Interesting isn't the word I'd use…"

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"Here he comes," Sirius whispered to James, looking over to the Great Hall doors that Remus just walked through. When Remus sat down by them, Sirius asked, "So Marlene isn't your type of girl then?"

"No, not really," Remus said, looking at his plate. "Did you guys finish the Potions homework, because I need help."

"I'll show it to you at lunch," Sirius said. "So why don't you like Marlene? Do you prefer ugly girls, because there's quite a few of those around."

"No, I just don't like Marlene," Remus shrugged. "Can you pass the bacon?"

James threw some of the bacon at him. "Who were you dancing with, the girl in red? You looked like you liked her."

"Oh, no one," Remus said. "A Ravenclaw from my Arithmancy class, that's all. She asked me to dance, and I said yes."

"A Ravenclaw?" Sirius said. "What Ravenclaw?"

"You don't know her," Remus said quickly. "She's not in any of your classes."

"Do you like her too?" James asked.

"No, she's just a friend," but Remus looked away and James and Sirius traded glances, grinning evilly. Jackpot.

"You should go out with her," Sirius commented.

"I said I didn't like her," Remus began to eat quickly, wanting to get out of there.

"Like you have to like someone to go out with her," James rolled his eyes.

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Ashleigh walked over to the Gryffindor table and sat down by Bryanna. Fabian had just left to finish some of his homework from the night before, so she figured it would be a good chance to talk to Bry alone.

"Hello," Ashleigh said.

"So you're talking to me again?" Bry looked up at Ashleigh.

"Obviously," Ashleigh smiled. "I've decided that even if I hate the fact that you slept with Fabian, there's nothing I can do about it. Therefore, I forgive you."

"I didn't ask you to forgive me," Bry said.

"Well, I did it anyway."

"Why should I care anyway?" Bry snapped.

"Because you love me," Ashleigh cooed.

Bryanna cracked a smile. "Maybe I do after all."

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"You're going out with Ashleigh?!?" Sirius yelled loudly for everyone to hear.

Ashleigh stood up quickly. "Ihavetogobye!"She waved as she ran for the exit.

"And that's our cue," Sirius muttered. He and James jumped out in front of Ashleigh, blocking her path completely. She turned around, but Bryanna was behind her with her hands on her hips.

"I really need to finish my homework," Ashleigh muttered, trying to push her way through.

"Nice try, but you finished it before the dance," Bry raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, and Remus already tried that one," Sirius smirked just as Remus made his way to the group.

"Let her go guys," Remus said.

"Ah, you do like her!" James smiled.

"You told them?!" Ashleigh snapped.

Remus looked at her. "No, but you just did."

Ashleigh's eyes widened. "We're not going out," she said softly. "He's dating Marlene."

"Nope, we already asked him that," James said. "He doesn't like Marlene."

"Did you guys finish the homework, because I didn't," Ashleigh said quickly, trying to sneak past Bry.

"You're not in any classes with James and Sirius," Bry reminded her, pulling her back. "And you said you had a crush on a guy in your Arithmancy class."

"Fine, I give in," Ashleigh said. "We're dating alright. Now can I go?"

"How long have you been dating him?" Sirius asked.

"A week," Remus said, just as Ashleigh said, "A day." They looked at each other. "A week and a day," Remus said.

"Well isn't that a load of crap?" James said. "We already know you're going out, why not just tell us how long it's been?"

Remus and Ashleigh exchanged glances. "Because you don't want to know."

Bryanna looked at both of them. "Trust me," she said seriously. "We want to know."

"Why do you want to know so much?" Ashleigh asked her. "It's like you said, you already know we've been dating, why not leave it at that?"

"We want to know how long you've been going behind our backs," Sirius said.

"Alright, we've been going out since the beginning of school," Remus said quickly. "Can we go now?"

"But what day?" Bry asked again.

"What does it matter!" Ashleigh yelled.

"JUST TELL ME!" Bry snapped back.

"The day after the first Hogsmeade trip," Remus said quickly, trying to stop the two from bickering.

An evil grin spread across Bry's face. "The day after the first Hogsmeade trip?" she turned to Sirius, still smirking. "The day after the first Hogsmeade trip. That means you owe me some money."

"B-but, it was two- oh… I don't owe you money!" Sirius said indignantly.

"Yes you do," Bry said confidently, "I said they would get together within two weeks of the start of school, and they did, so you owe me twenty galleons."

"YOU AND SIRIUS BET ON MY LOVE LIFE?" Ashleigh yelled.

"No, me and Sirius and the whole school took bets on your love life," Bry said. "Speaking of which…" she turned to everyone in the Great Hall and raised her voice. "Alright, I'm sure you've been listening, so if you lost the bet, you better get me my money soon."

Ashleigh turned bright red. She couldn't take it anymore, and she bolted for the door before anyone could catch her. Remus looked at her leave and turned back to his friends, looking very angry.

"Was it you," he pointed at Sirius, "or you," he looked at Bry, "who decided to take bets on our love life?"

"Of course it was me," Bry said. "Like Sirius would have the brains to think of something like that. He was just the first person to take my bet."

Remus just gave her a death glare and turned to follow his girlfriend out. "I didn't make a bet on you!" James called after him. "Just remember that!" He looked at Sirius. "The only reason I didn't is that I didn't think they'd ever go out," he muttered.


	7. Clutching My Emotions

**Clutching My Emotions, Remembering the Moments Passed**

"So wait," Harry said. "There was a bet? When did that happen?"

Remus smiled. "I guess I didn't tell you about that, did I? We asked Bry and Sirius later, when everyone had cooled down a bit. And I didn't mention what really happened at Hogsmeade, when I went to the bookstore. Sirius and Bryanna made the bet on the first day of school, after the feast…"

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"They really should have thought twice about making me Quidditch Captain and Headboy," James said as the Marauders walked out of the Great Hall.

Sirius soon followed after a girl and was walking up towards the stairs with James. "Yeah I think they really screwed the school over by giving you both those positions."

Remus smirked at James as they walked up the staircase. "They will realize their mistake soon enough." He wasn't looking where he as going as he talked to James, and ran right into a Ravenclaw girl and tripped, falling face-first onto the staircase. He blushed as he heard the laugher of the students around him, and pulled himself to his feet, glancing at the girl to make sure she was all right, only to find himself an inch away from Ashleigh White. He blushed harder. "Ummm… sorry…" he mumbled.

Bryanna erupted into laughter when Remus went face first into the staircase after tripping over Ashleigh, and couldn't help but say, "Look Remus, you fell for Ashleigh!" and watched as his face turned, if possible, an even deeper shade of red.

Ashleigh didn't know what happen until she saw Remus stand up and be so close to her. She hadn't noticed him before and was now an inch away from his face. He began to get embarrassed and was quickly saying sorry. She than looked down and was becoming tongue-tied. "Uh... it's okay." She looked back up at him feeling brave but lost it all when she heard Bryanna. Her cheeks turned red and she quickly ran past Remus and up the stairs heading to her common room without saying another word.

Sirius turned around just to see Ashleigh run on past them. He then looked down to see Bryanna laughing and a very embarrassed Remus. "Uh did we miss something?"

Bryanna just laughed harder and put an arm around Remus. "Remus here just decided to make a fool of himself by falling over Ashleigh."

"Well you had to go and make it worse by saying I fell for her, Bry!" Remus snapped.

Bryanna just smiled sweetly at him. "What was I supposed to do, not crack a joke at the perfect opportunity?" Remus threw his arms up and walked up to the dorms.

"Speaking of perfect opportunities," Bryanna raised her voice when both Remus and Ashleigh were gone, "I'm now taking bets on how long it will take for Remus and Ashleigh to hook up! Odds are 5:1 that they get together within two weeks! Any takers?" She grinned evilly as students swarmed around her to place their bets.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Peter said to James and Sirius, "What's going to happen when they find out?"

Sirius walked down to the couple looking like he was about to yell at Bryanna but stopped. "I'll place 20 galleons on them never getting together." He looked at Peter. "He is after all our best friend."

Bryanna grinned gleefully and jotted his name down on a piece of parchment she had gotten out. "Well then, the bet is on Sirius. I say they will get together within two weeks and you say they will never get together. Only one of us can come out right. Thanks for helping my little business, by the way."

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The day of the Hogsmeade trip, Remus was in the bookstore while all the other Marauders were outside, trying to figure out how to curse Lily's current boyfriend, Brian, without Lily finding out. The door to the store opened and Remus looked up to see Ashleigh White come in. He blushed slightly, thinking of how he had fallen over her the week before. Thankfully for him, she turned down a different aisle to look for books. He sighed and returned to reading A Guide to Arithmancy: Everything You'll Ever Need To Know About The Art Of Numbers.

"Oh crap!" he heard right before what sounded like a shelf crashed to the ground. He leapt up and walked over to where he had heard the noise to see Ashleigh frantically trying to shove a pile of books that were littered on the floor around her back onto a shelf.

"Here," Remus said, taking out his wand and performing a spell that made the mess disappear. He looked at her to see that she was blushing quite a bit, holding her head down. She had a quirky smile on her face, mixed with embarrassment and relief.

"Thanks," she said. "I forgot I had a wand, I was just trying to get the book on Arithmancy down but it was too high up and they fell when I tried to grab it, then I didn't know what to do and-"

"Here," Remus reached up and grabbed the book to hand it to her. "I was just reading that too, actually. Professor Vector has assigned a lot more homework, so I thought I might need some help." He realized he was starting to ramble too, and stopped himself.

Ashleigh was still embarrassed as she took a step forward to take the book that he handed to her. "Thanks again," she said, still looking down at her feet as she took another step towards him. She didn't notice that he was inching towards her too. She finally looked up to see his face close to hers and they both held their breath for a second.

DING!

The door opened once more and the couple looked between the cracks in the bookshelf to see Peter Pettigrew walk in, apparently looking for Remus. Remus groaned. "Ashleigh, I'd better go see-" he turned to see that she was gone. He looked down at the floor and saw her purple bag sitting against the shelf. He picked it up just in time for Peter to find him.

"There you are!" Peter said. "You'd better come, Sirius and James are exacting their revenge on Brian." He started leaving before realizing Remus wasn't following. "Come on!" he said, pulling his friend out of the shop.

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After Remus got away from his friends, he got back into Hogwarts and went to the library, looking for Ashleigh so he could return her bag and finally get the nerve to ask her out. Sure enough, Ashleigh was at a table, studying for History of Magic. He took a deep breath before walking over to the table.


	8. We Can Play Your Game

**We Can Play Your Game If You Just Tell Me Your Name**

"We have to have practice every night Sirius!" James yelled during Quidditch practice. The Gryffindor Quidditch team was in the locker rooms, preparing for their third practice of the week: and it was only Tuesday. They weren't keeping their complaints quiet, and after a particularly loud one from Sirius, James finally lost it. "Our game is on Saturday! This is our last year here, and I'm Captain. I HAVE to win this cup. We've only had practice twice a week up until now."

"But all the other teams have only had one practice a week up until now," Sirius argued.

"And it's not as if Hufflepuff actually stands a chance against us anyway," Bry mumbled.

"They could be better than we think," James shot. "Amos Diggory is Captain, and they actually had tryouts to get good blood in there."

"We had tryouts too," Kassidy pointed out. "We do have a good team."

"That was only because we wanted to see the first years make fools of themselves," James yelled. Then he took a breath and said in a calmer voice, "But you're right. We do have a good team. It's not getting you out of Quidditch practice this week though." The entire team groaned.

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"The Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Captains are shaking hands. For once, I think James Potter may not kill the opposing team Captain. Beat him off his broom now and then, maybe, but he seems to kinda like Amos," yelled that year's commentator, Lily's friend Emmeline Vance as she popped a piece of gum that was as pink as her hair. The crowd looked down to see James shaking hands with Amos with a rather stony look on his face that plainly said he was ready to clobber Amos and his team.

"And they're off!" Emma shouted. "Quaffle taken by Sirius Black of Gryffindor, who immediately passes it over to Bryanna Ryan, who flies for a while. It's almost taken by Malburger of Hufflepuff, but Ryan gets it to Black just in time, who shoots towards the goal posts, and… SCORE! That's 10:0 Gryffindor!"

Sirius did a loop-the-loop after making the goal and raised his arms in victory. One of the Hufflepuff Beaters shot a Bludger at him, but before it hit its mark, Dory zoomed over to hit it towards another player.

"And that's why you should save the celebrating until AFTER the game, Sirius," James said as he zoomed past his friend with the Quaffle in hand to score another ten points for Gryffindor. Sirius muttered under his breath but began to fly normally again.

"Amos Diggory gets the Quaffle, and flies down, avoiding Potter as he tries to steal the ball, and here comes Black, OUCH! That must have hurt! Gryffindor Beater Kassidy Rice shoots a Bludger at Diggory, hitting him in the stomach. Remind me never to get on her bad side, apparently she has good aim," Emma commented.

"EMMA! The game please," Professor McGonagall cut in.

"Oh right," Emma grinned. "Looks like the Quaffle ended up back with Hufflepuff – when did that happen? – and Doggett is clear of everyone, with only Fabian Prewett, the Gryffindor Keeper, in his way. He shoots and – no, it's denied! Wonderful save by Fabian Prewett, not to be confused with Gideon Prewett, his younger brother, who just made the Gryffindor team this year."

The teams were both beginning to get tired now. After the first few goals by Gryffindor, neither team seemed to be able to get past the quarter mark before having the Quaffle stolen or getting hit by a Bludger. It was getting intense and the crowd was losing some of its original energy.

"Quaffle taken by Black," Emma said in a bored voice. "The best thing about him having the Quaffle is that I get to stare at him in his crimson robes, which look wonderful on him, definitely accentuate his assets – hey! Completely unwarranted shot by Gryffindor Beater Dorcas Perdita Meadowes at me, just because I commented on how her boyfriend looks good in crimson. I think Fabian looks pretty good too, but you don't see Bryanna shooting things at me when I say so."

"That's only because I don't have a bat!" Bryanna yelled. Dory flew over to her and cheerfully handed her the bat. Bryanna grinned and lifted it up threateningly.

"Just kidding girls!" Emma said quickly. "I'm not after your boys, I promise. Even if they are pretty," she mumbled into the microphone.

"Look at Gideon!" McGonagall shrieked at Emma. "He's got the Snitch, comment on that!"

"Does he really?" Emma asked as she peered down at Gideon, who had just come out of a dive. "Oy! Gideon, do you have the Snitch?" she yelled. He held up the golden yellow ball triumphantly. "Looks like Gryffindor wins 200:20! Go Lions!"

The Gryffindor team piled on top of Gideon. "You're first game Gid, and you caught the Snitch!" Kassidy yelled over the roar of the crowd. "That's my brother!" Fabian yelled as the girl's each planted kisses on Gideon's cheek. James was nearly wetting himself with excitement, and Sirius looked like he was on top of the world.

"You were amazing Kassidy!" Peter said as he wrapped his arms around the sweaty and tired Beater and spun her around after he gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Bryanna and Fabian were already celebrating the win with their arms around each other.

"Party in the Gryffindor common room!" Sirius yelled to the crowd as the Gryffindor supporters ran towards them with congratulations. He put his arm around Dory and they walked with the crowd up to the castle.


	9. Ballad for the Lost Romantics

_Author's Note: We are really sorry about the long hiatus. We've just been really busy with real life, but to make up for it we're putting up two (count them, TWO) chapters just for you. And if you're extra nice, we might just put up another in a few days..._

**Ballad For The Lost Romantics**

Sirius and James walked into the common room, their arms filled with food the house-elves had given them when they snuck down to the kitchens for sustenance for the partiers. The Fat Lady swung open when they said the password and they were immediately greeted by too many people to count, cheering for their team and happy to party all night to celebrate the victory. They shoved their food off to some other people, who conjured up tables and set it up there.

Remus and Peter joined their friends. "That was a great game," Remus said.

"My girlfriend was amazing," Peter said as Kassidy walked up. Kassidy smiled at him as he offered her his arm and led her over to the fireplace, where they snuggled up to talk.

"Speaking of girlfriends, I do believe there is a gorgeous one over there just waiting for me too sweep her off her feet," Sirius drew himself up and sauntered over to where Dory stood, planting a kiss on her lips.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Moony," James grinned.

"Actually, I have a girl waiting for me too," Remus smiled sheepishly as he looked over at Bry and Ashleigh talking by the staircases.

"But Ashleigh is a Ravenclaw – why is she in here? No, how the hell did she get in here?" James asked.

"Bryanna's been sneaking her in for a while now. Honestly, Ashleigh spends more time in this common room than in her own," Lily Evans said from behind them. "I think the Fat Lady believes she's a Gryffindor."

James turned to Lily and smiled broadly just because she was there. "I've never noticed her here before, she hasn't had much reason except for Bry so I expect they just run up to their dorms to giggle and gossip all night. It's weird that she's with Remus now though. I forget they're going out then I see them together and am shocked." While James was wrapped up in talking to Lily, Remus turned to steal his girlfriend back from Bryanna, who didn't seem to mind, since it gave her an excuse to find Fabian.

"She's not that terrible, you know," Lily said. "She's quite nice as long as you don't make her angry."

"I didn't make her angry," James argued. "I've never done anything to her."

"Let's see," Lily said mockingly, "You dated her, and then you got arrogant about it. Ashleigh hates arrogance, so that's where you made her angry. So she cursed you to kick you off your high horse. There's a reason she chose Remus and not you or Sirius: Remus won't get cocky with her."

"Don't you have any friends you can talk to?" James asked irritably.

"No, two of them are with your friends, and the others are busy with other things," Lily said cheerfully. "I'm stuck with you apparently." Her cheerfulness suddenly faded as she looked at her friends, Dory and Ashleigh happy with their boyfriends, Emma surrounded by fans, and Alice and Marlene in a corner, staying in the quiet where they liked it best. Which meant the only person she could talk to was James.

"Is that Ashleigh holding hands with Remus? I know they are not touching. Please tell me that she did not just kiss his cheek, James, I don't think I could take much more of this," Sirius said, returning to James's side to comment on their friend.

"Wait! Did Remus just put his arm around her waist? What is he whispering in her ear? If we're not careful, Sirius, we're going to have another Bryanna and Fabian on our hands," James replied.

"James!" Lily hissed. He looked at her. She nodded her head to right behind them where Bryanna was standing.

"What do you two really expect?" Bryanna asked them. "They are going out! What do you do with your girlfriends?"

"Oh, he better not be doing that," Sirius said loudly.

Bryanna rolled her eyes. "Alright, Remus is a good boy. Pretend, you're good boys, now what do you do with your girlfriends?"

"Oh, he better not be doing that either," James said just as loudly.

Bryanna just shook her head and walked away. As she left, she called out to James, "And don't think I didn't hear that crack about me James. I'm just letting it slide this time." She grabbed Fabian and walked towards Ashleigh to tell her the news.

"And that's why you should make sure no one's behind you before you start talking about them," Sirius grinned triumphantly at his best friend, having made his payback for James's comment during the Quidditch game.

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"You know, you really were amazing today," Peter told Kassidy for the hundredth time. "I was really proud of you."

"I just think you like to see me blush whenever you tell me that," Kassidy said as she blushed yet again.

"I just consider that a bonus," Peter smiled. "I really do think you did well." He slipped his arm around her as they stared into the crackling flames in the fireplace.

"You're really good to me Peter," she whispered.

Peter kissed the side of her head. "You're worth it," he whispered back as he pulled her in tighter.

The crowd of partiers moved closer to them and Kassidy began to feel uncomfortable with all the people watching them. Peter glanced at her face and noticed this. "Come on," he stood up, reaching down to help her up. "We'll go someplace more quiet."

"My knight in shining armor," Kassidy murmured as he rescued her from the crowd and led her away to a safe place.

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"I don't know," Ashleigh said to Remus, while watching Bryanna be led away by Fabian, "Maybe I'm just being protective of Bry, but I hate this. She wants to be independent, but she needs people. She needs him now, and that scares me." Remus pulled her in for a hug, letting his arms wrap around her. It finally felt like they were getting closer. She was telling him her problems and he felt like he could solve them.

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Fabian locked the door behind them as he and Bry slipped inside and collapsed onto his bed. He placed his hands on her hips and looked down at her. She was still elated from the game, and he was just happy that they were here tonight, together. He kissed her, softly at first for reassurance, then he deepened it as she kissed back. He pulled her in closer, and Bryanna stopped without pulling back.

"I love you Fabian," she told him, looking him in the eyes. He hesitated for a second, unsure of what to do. She'd never said that before, but still, it felt right.

"I love you too Bry," he whispered, leaning down to kiss her again. "I love you too."


	10. For All Who Saw Me Sneaking Out The Door

**For All Who Saw Me Sneaking Out The Door**

Lily and James sat on the couch, looking around the room. It was a pigsty. An absolute pigsty. The Gryffindors knew how to party, but they did not know how to clean up after themselves.

"I suppose, as Head Girl and Boy, we really should get this cleaned up," Lily told James. She was too tired to get up, but maybe saying it would give her motivation.

"Yeah, we should," James agreed, but he didn't move either.

"Do we have to get up?" Lily complained.

"We could just use magic," James reminded her. He didn't even feel like reaching to get his wand, which was just on the coffee table in front of him. Parties were exhausting.

"That's true," Lily said. She didn't stretch out an arm to grab her wand either, which was lying next to James's. "Why don't we do it later?"

"We have time, we could wait," James nodded. "I'm so tired."

"Me too," Lily agreed. "I had to take off points from my own house."

"Why'd you do that?" James asked.

"They were shooting off fireworks right by my ear," Lily said. "It rather annoyed me.

"That's a good reason," James agreed. "I bet it was Sirius."

"Actually, I think it might have been. I don't really remember," Lily shrugged.

"What's that?" James asked. He looked up at the boys' dormitory stairs. "That's either a girl or a guy with really long hair coming down those stairs," he whispered to Lily.

"Girls aren't allowed up there, so it must just be a guy with really long hair," Lily replied.

"Ashleigh!" they heard Remus's voice coming from the stairs behind the longhaired figure. "You left your wand." James and Lily exchanged glances, suddenly wide-awake.

"Oh thanks," Ashleigh's voice floated down to them. "Remus! You know I'm not that tall, just hand it to me."

"You need to be quiet, Ashleigh, all the boys are sleeping," Remus said in a flirty voice.

"You can't use that against me," Ashleigh said. The figure that Lily and James now knew was Ashleigh reached up to grab something out of Remus's hand, but the wand was flicked higher out of her reach. "Remus, please!"

"Not without a goodnight kiss," Remus told her.

"Remus!" Ashleigh was getting impatient. "I need to get back to Ravenclaw before anyone notices. Please give me my wand."

"You're already late, and if you'd just give me the goodnight kiss, I'd let you go," Remus reminded her.

"That's my boy," James whispered. Lily shoved him a bit.

Ashleigh reached for the wand again, but Remus still held it high above her head. She sighed and leaned up to kiss him, and Remus dropped his arms to hold her close. The second he did, Ashleigh stepped back and snatched her wand.

"And that's my girl," Lily whispered back. James shoved her back.

"'Night Remus," Ashleigh told him.

"Good night Ashleigh," Remus replied, and Ashleigh left the common room while Remus headed up the stairs.

When the couple was gone, Lily turned to James and asked, "So wait, why didn't we bust them?"

James grinned evilly. "Because it'll be a lot more fun to bust them tomorrow when everyone is around."

"That's mean!" Lily protested. "But they deserve it. Make sure that I'm there."

James smiled wider. "I knew there was a bad girl inside you, Evans," he said pleasantly. "And quite frankly, I like it. Do you think the bad girl Evans would want to go out with me?" he asked.

"No Potter," Lily told him. She stood up and grabbed her wand. "Help me clean up this mess."

James stood up and moved close to her. "I will if you give me a goodnight kiss," he told her.

"Fine, I'll do it myself," Lily snapped, waving her wand and making the mess disappear. "'Night James," she said as she walked up her dormitory stairs.

"Goodnight Lily," James called after her, with a crooked smile on his face. He watched her disappear up the stairs before turning to go to his own bed. He opened the door and looked at each of the beds. Remus was already asleep, smiling from a dream. Sirius and Peter were nowhere to be seen. "What, did everyone get laid but me?" James asked the air. Remus snorted in his sleep and rolled over. "Thanks Moony, thanks."


	11. Embarassment Is So Your Color

**Embarrassment Is So Your Color**

The Marauders were by their favorite tree near the lake. It was Sunday afternoon, and the wind was blowing. Even though it was November, it was warm enough to be outside.

"Oh great," Sirius muttered to James. "Our favorite person is coming over to see her darling Remus." James looked over to see Ashleigh making her way to them and an evil grin spread across his face. "Perfect," he said.

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "What do you have planned?" he asked his friend, knowing the look that was on James's face meant trouble. James just shook his head before he looked over at Lily. When she glanced his way, he nodded his head and she separated himself from her friends and wandered over to him. Sirius's eyebrows went higher. "Since when does Lily listen to you?"

"You'll see Padfoot," James said softly. "You'll see." Ashleigh sat down next to Remus, smiling.

"Hello James," said Lily pleasantly when she arrived. "It was a rather long night last night, wasn't it? And then we had to stay and clean up afterwards. What a pain."

"Oh yes," James agreed. "But it was worth it. After all, if we hadn't cleaned up, we would have never seen the oddest thing."

"I know," Lily nodded. "Who would have guessed that we would have seen someone sneaking a girl out of the boys' dorms?" Ashleigh choked when she heard this and looked at Remus worriedly. Remus immediately said, "Well who would be sneaking a girl out of their dorm?"

"I think you know Moony," James told him. "After all, we clearly heard your voice telling Ashleigh here that she couldn't have her wand back without a goodnight kiss."

"Wait," Sirius said. "You're telling me that Remus and Ashleigh were up in the dorms? Alone?"

"That's exactly what I'm telling you," James grinned.

"What exactly were you doing in there?" Sirius asked, turning on Remus.

"You know, that's a very good question Padfoot. Sirius and Peter were both out of the dorms, and I was downstairs, which meant that you two were very much alone in there for a very long time. So what were you doing to pass the time?" James cocked his head towards Ashleigh, who was turning a brilliant shade of red and didn't answer.

"I'm thinking about what I would be doing, and trust me, it's not very innocent," Sirius looked at the two of them.

"I'm still a virgin!" Ashleigh declared loudly.

"That's what you say, but can you really prove it?" Peter asked. James and Sirius both nodded encouragingly as Ashleigh blushed even harder.

"You know, I don't think there's really a way to prove it," Lily commented.

"Yeah, you'll just have to take my word on it," Ashleigh agreed, nodding to Lily.

"Oh, I know a way," Sirius said, standing up and grinning evilly. He reached for Ashleigh's skirt. She shrieked and jumped out her spot.

"Padfoot," Remus said warningly. "Although that is a way to find out whether she's a virgin, I am not letting you do that to my girlfriend."

"Thank you," Ashleigh said to him, holding down her skirt with both hands. She moved to the other side of Remus so that he was between her and Sirius.

Sirius held up his hands and put an innocent look on his face. "What are you thinking that I'm trying to do? There's a spell that I know that will tell these things. My aunt did it to my cousins when I was younger, that's all." James and Peter laughed at this.

"I don't want you anywhere near me with a wand!" Ashleigh said.

"Alright, let's make a deal. I'll call Bryanna over, and if she says that I can do the spell, then you let me do it and that's that. If she says that I'm not allowed, then I won't do anything and you won't have to worry about my scary little wand," Sirius grinned.

"Yeah, that'll be fine," Ashleigh nodded. Bry was her best friend; there was no way she would let Sirius do anything to her. She smiled.

"Oy! Bry!" Sirius called, and Bry looked up from beside the lake. "What?" she called back. "Come over here!" Bry stood up and wandered over to the group, raising her eyebrows at Ashleigh's look of disgust and Sirius' eager face.

"We just found out that Ashleigh and Remus here spent some quality alone time in the boys' dorms last night. They both say they didn't get into anything that I would call fun at all, but I know this spell that will prove if Ashleigh here is a virgin. Ashleigh doesn't want me to do this, but we both agreed that if you said that I could do it, then she'd let me," Sirius explained quickly.

Bryanna looked at Ashleigh for a minute before grinning. "Go ahead and do it."

"WHAT?" Ashleigh yelled at her best friend. "You know I wouldn't do anything, you're supposed to be my best friend, don't let him do this!"

Bryanna grinned wider. "Ah, but it's worth it to see your face."

Ashleigh turned on Remus. "You're my boyfriend, you know we didn't do anything, why aren't you protecting me from idiots like that!" she said, pointing at Sirius.

Remus shrugged. "You were the one who agreed that Bryanna would have the final decision, not me. As I recall, that means that you have to let Sirius do the spell."

"I'm also the one that can dump you!" Ashleigh screamed.

"But you won't," Remus flashed her a grin and sat back.

Ashleigh fumed for a minute before turning to Sirius. "Fine. Do your stupid spell."

"With pleasure," Sirius grinned, whipping out his wand and sending a spell at her that caused the air around her to turn white. "Damn, she's actually a virgin," he said.

"You mean that they were up there alone for all that time and didn't do anything?" James said. "Moony, I thought you were a better Marauder than that."

Lily smacked James. "He's a good boy, Potter. Just because you want to corrupt him like you and Sirius are corrupted, doesn't mean that he's willing to become that way. I think it's a good trait that he didn't have sex with her like you two would."

James pulled a disgusted face. "Neither Sirius nor I would have sex with Ashleigh, trust me." Sirius nodded vehemently. Ashleigh made an odd noise and stormed off. Lily just shook her head angrily and turned on her heel to return to her friends.

"You always have to ruin everything, don't you? Thanks a lot," Remus said before getting up to follow Ashleigh.

Bryanna laughed. "I love it when moments like this happen," she said as she too walked back to her spot by the lake.

"Well, that got that witch out of here for a while. I'll be surprised if she tries to go see Remus when we're around for a long time," James grinned triumphantly.


	12. I Guess The Joke's On Me

**I Guess the Joke's On Me**

"Why am I even in this class?" Remus asked his friends as they sat down and began to put up their cauldrons for Potions. "I hate Potions, I'm terrible at it, and I would rather be finishing my Transfiguration homework."

"Then just leave," Sirius said simply. "Sluggy isn't here yet, just go and we'll say you're sick or something."

"Yeah, sick of this class," Remus muttered, beginning to place his things back into his bag. "I think I will leave. It's pointless for me to be in here when I'm going to fail anyway." Just as he had finished packing his bag, Slughorn walked into the room. "Dammit," Remus said. "Now I can't leave." James and Sirius sniggered.

Slughorn waved his wand at the board where instructions appeared for them to follow. "Alright, that's all I need from you today. Any questions?" he inquired.

Remus looked up and stuck up his hand. "Yeah, I have a question Professor."

The other Marauders looked over at him. "Go ahead," said Slughorn.

"Can today's potion be used as a sexual lubricant?" Remus asked with a serious look on his face.

James and Sirius burst out laughing. Slughorn opened his mouth and closed it twice, apparently at a loss for words. "Just go. Dumbledore's office, now!" Slughorn finally said.

"Whatever you say Professor," Remus said cheerfully, grabbing his bag and leaving the classroom, ignoring the stares of the rest of his classmates, who were in shock that Remus Lupin said something like that to a Professor. James and Sirius were still chortling as they made their potion quickly.

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James, Sirius, and Peter left Potions to find themselves stuck behind a crowd of first years headed to the Great Hall for lunch. "Won't they hurry up, I'm starving!" James exclaimed.

When they entered the Great Hall, they looked quickly down the nearly full Gryffindor table and spotted some empty seats by Bryanna and Fabian. "How's it going?" Sirius asked them as he sat down and reached for the food, piling it onto his plate.

"Not bad," Bryanna said. "It's Fabian's seventeenth birthday today." She looked admiringly at her boyfriend.

"Happy birthday Fabian!" Peter said.

"Yeah, seventeen. That means you can do magic at home without getting in trouble," James grinned at him.

"Get anything good?" Sirius asked between bites.

Fabian nodded and held out his hand. A golden watch glittered on his wrist. "Mum gave this to me."

James looked at it. "Nice," he said. "My mom got me a silver one when I turned seventeen."

"But I'm really excited about Bry's present," Fabian said with a coy glance her way.

"Why, what did you get him?" Sirius asked quickly.

"Something I'm not discussing with you Sirius," Bry said calmly.

James looked at her interestedly. "Well, if you need some sexual lubricant, you can get Remus to ask Slughorn if he has anything for you." The three Marauders present and Bryanna cracked up while Fabian looked confused.

"What?" he asked Bry.

"Oh, let's just say Remus didn't really want to be in Potions today, so he found a good reason to leave," Sirius told him. They didn't get the chance to say any more because Remus walked up and took the only vacant seat by them.

"Well, I have detention tonight, but that's all," he told them before they could ask. The group laughed once more before finishing their meal.

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While Remus was doing his detention later that evening (cleaning Moaning Myrtle's bathroom since she had flooded it again), Bryanna and Fabian were on the couch in the middle of the common room, and Sirius and James were sitting in their favorite chairs by the fireplace. The portrait swung open and Peter walked in, looking depressed about something.

"What's going on Peter?" James asked as Peter took a seat by them.

"I don't know," Peter said. "I'm going to bed, I'll see you guys in the morning." He moved to walk up the staircase to the boys' dormitory.

"Oh no you don't," Sirius said, getting up and stepping in front of Peter to block his path. "You are going to tell us what is going on or you're not going to bed."

"Look, it's nothing. I'm just tired is all, the homework amount has been stressing me out," Peter muttered, trying to slip past Sirius.

"You finished your homework yesterday," James moved to stand by Sirius, "I remember Remus doing it with you. Just tell us what's going on Peter, and don't give us this "I'm just tired" crap. We're your friends, we know something is going on."

"Kassidy and I broke up," Peter said quickly. "Now would you let me go to bed?"

"Not before you tell us who broke up with who and why," Sirius replied.

"I broke up with her, alright?" Peter raised his voice slightly in irritation, "It just wasn't working out for me. I didn't want to hurt her, but I don't like her the way I used to. It wasn't fair to her, so I broke up with her. Can I go to bed already?" This time, Peter succeeded in getting past Sirius and went up the stairs before Sirius or James could say anything else.

"Well, that was unexpected," Sirius said after a moment.

"I think it's time for us to get rid of Ashleigh," James said. "Then we can all be single again and spend some quality Marauder time together."

"Excuse me, I have a girlfriend," Sirius puffed out his chest.

James looked over at him. "Oh sorry, I forgot. You're never really around her unless you want something, so I don't really think that counts."

"I happen to like Dory a lot actually," Sirius said in contempt.

"Liking her and liking her body are two different things," James argued, moving to follow Peter's trail up the stairs to bed.

"I really do like her!" Sirius yelled, running after his friend. "Really! I do!"


	13. We Have a Secret Curse We Chant

**We Have a Secret Curse We Chant**

"And, Slytherin scores again," Emma said in a monotone voice. "That means the score is…" she paused, "Oh who really cares? The point is that Slytherin is still beating the-"

"Emma," McGonagall shot a warning glance at the commentator.

"-the tar out of Hufflepuff," Emma smiled sweetly at the professor.

"Well, this is turning into a massacre," James told Sirius as they watched the game. "I just wish someone would catch the Snitch already and end it. Slytherin's won no matter what."

"Now don't say that," Dory said brightly. "Someone on the Slytherin team could die suddenly and Hufflepuff would have a better chance."

"The entire Slytherin team would have to die suddenly for Hufflepuff to have a chance," Bryanna replied darkly. "Face it, Slytherin is just a really good team."

"It's just a Quidditch game," Ashleigh said timidly. "I don't really see the big deal about all of this."

James, Sirius, Dory, and Bry looked over at Ashleigh with looks of shock on their faces. "I'm sorry… What?" James finally spoke.

"It's just a game," Ashleigh repeated. Sirius opened his mouth to respond, but Remus turned Ashleigh away and said, "Look at the pretty bird Ashleigh. And stop saying, "it's just a game" around these guys. I don't want you killed."

Ashleigh just rolled her eyes and turned back to the group. "Well, you could at least be better sports about it. Sirius, your brother is flying really well."

"Don't remind me," Sirius muttered, turning away. "I wish someone would stuff a broom up his arse."

"I think all Slytherins take it up the arse," James added.

"That would make a great chant: 'Slytherins take it up the arse'," Bryanna smiled. James and Sirius exchanged evil grins and began to chant their favorite new slogan. Bryanna laughed. "No, no, no. It works much better when people can actually hear you," she said, waving her wand. James and Sirius's voices boomed out, magically magnified.

"JAMES POTTER AND SIRIUS BLACK!" McGonagall had ripped the megaphone away from Emma, who was now dully commenting on the weather rather than the game, to scream at the two boys, who could now be heard over the entire Quidditch field. "A week's detention! And shut up or I'll make it longer!"

"Professor, it was Bryanna's idea!" Sirius pointed at Bry, his voice still resonating across the pitch.

"But did you see me participating in such a juvenile act?" Bryanna said, flipping her blonde hair out behind her and waving her wand so that the boys' voices went back to normal. Ashleigh broke out into laughter behind her.

"This is so unfair," Sirius pouted.

"You know what else is unfair?" Dory popped in. She pointed down at the field. "Regulus just caught the snitch. That means Slytherin's in the lead for the Quidditch Cup."

"You're right. That's really unfair," James added. "That also means more practices for us."

Dory, Sirius, and Bryanna groaned.


End file.
